Is this hell?
by feistsgirl
Summary: The aftermath of the awakening of the demon Acathla: Buffy has disappeared. So too has Angelus.
1. Chapter 1

_Is this hell?_

The kiss came hot and fast. The lips were familiar, the shoulders and neck that she gripped were the same. But all was different. And how could it be right? But she had to know. If this was it, the end for them both – surely she had the right to it.

She felt fangs in his mouth. They cut her, but she didn't pull away. She didn't want to break the kiss and neither did he.

Would Willow's spell work in time?

She heard the snarl. Felt it creep up his throat. Guttural and animal. Was he enjoying this?

Acathla was coming to life behind them. A demonic vortex swam and rippled, just waiting to suck the world into hell. And she stood selfishly by – kissing her lost love. Kissing the thing that killed him because she couldn't bear the separation any longer. And he kissed her back.

It was like dying.

She felt everything that she knew coming to an end.

She stumbled forward into his body. She felt small against him, while his body remained firm and comforting. Supportive – he caught her and held her steady.

It felt like he was smiling. _Was he enjoying this? _He had triumphed The Slayer. This was worse than death. It was complete surrender – the surrender to her darkest desires. All of her beliefs, her rules toppled and tumbled like an avalanche. She found herself sighing out his name –

_Angel._

It didn't exactly reverberate from the walls. It was no cry of ecstasy or conclusion.

It was only the beginning of the end.

Xander crossed the courtyard. Fallen leaves scraped the ground, the wind dragged them mercilessly back and forth – there was no other sound to be heard. Acathla stood dormant, quiet and undisturbed as though the earth had never been at risk. But it had. He had left, with a bloodied Giles under his arm while Buffy fought for her life. It had been chaos but a few short hours ago. Swords had rung a loud song of death. And now? _Where is she?_

"_The spell didn't work." _Willow looked up into her friend's sombre faces. _"I didn't feel anything." _

"_You don't know that," _Oz said. He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder but she only shook her head.

"_Buffy would have called. She would let us know if it had been in time. Or if it worked at all."_

"_Or she would be wandering off with him, selfishly, leaving us all in suspense."_

Willow frowned at Cordelia's remark. She gave a toss of her thick dark locks as though that helped prove her point.

Angelus brushed a silken lock from Buffy's face. He kept her body locked in an iron grip as he gently moved himself a part from her. Where he could gleefully study her.

"_Angelus," _He whispered back. A slight frown formed at her brow but she remained still against him.

"_Does that trouble you, lover?" _

The vortex hissed, she could feel it's strength at her back – pulling them both towards it. She found herself wondering what hell was like. _Was it like this? Was it looking love in the face and knowing you could never have it. Was it lying to yourself so that you would never be without…_

"_That thing wants your blood," _She said it quietly. His yellow, vampiric eyes still regarded her. He was smiling.

"_Acathla will have the world."_

"_What does hell mean to you that you would have it here? What does it prove? What do you gain by it?"_

"_Is this your attempt to reason with a vampire?"_

"_No, I'm reasoning with __**you**__. Is there nothing more that you want, nothing else that this world has to offer you but hell?" _

His grip on her was becoming painfully tight. Her arms ached but she couldn't have him letting her go. She blinked and his face shifted. She stared into those angelic features once more. Human and naïve.

"_Come on, Buff. You don't want to ruin all the fun we're going to have."_

"_Fun? Do you think they'll make you king? You're as dead as the rest of us."_

"_Been dead a while or hadn't you noticed?"_

He looked up, past her. His and her fate, and all the world's regarded him. Stone faced and open mouthed. So it was the end for them.


	2. Chapter 2

The sky flickered, as though some almighty being had snapped a switch. In that instant all was night, all was darkness eternal. Buffy found herself still pressed against Angelus. His body was tensed, ready to strike.  
_"Where did the world go?"_  
He didn't answer, nor make a scathing quip. Instead he twisted The Slayer in his grip, the better to see all around them.  
_"You're as blind as I am. Just admit it."  
"Night vision, remember?"  
"So…what do you see?"_  
A smile began at the corner of his mouth, it was just about the only detail she could make out – and it made her shudder.  
She pushed him away from her, and the feeling that overcame her was like she was slipping.  
_"You really don't want to do that,"_ He said.  
The gasp that escaped her lips had him reaching for her. And suddenly the both of them were falling. She looked up as more darkness rushed toward them, Angelus turned his attention the same way and they finally saw it. They had been perched atop a rock promontory, evidently on its very edges where cloud cover was thick and misleading. The sky was alight now with ragged slashes of lightning, cutting the darkness mercilessly. As the cliff climbed higher and higher above them, Buffy wondered what awaited them below. Hard, unyielding earth. Crushing, icy waters. Or the fiery pit.  
But she never felt the decisive landing. They were falling and suddenly it stopped.

She was kissing someone, could feel their breath coming hot and fast against her throat. Angel. Tears gathered in her eyes with each lingering touch. She could see him properly now, just as she had that night. His eyes, so often doorways into a tormented soul looked back at her now, with happiness and love. He wanted her. All of her. And all she wanted was to give herself over to him. But she couldn't. Not Again and not ever again. She was crying, struggling to push him away. _"What is it, love?"_ His fingers brushed away her hair_. "Please don't cry."_  
_"We can't,"_ she whispered. _"I love you so much but I can't do this to you...what have I done?"_  
Angel pulled her against him, his chest was warm and so safe. How could he be dead? How could he be cursed? How could this be wrong when nothing in their lives had ever felt so right? He tipped her chin so that he could look into her eyes as he kissed her once more. He kissed her lips, her jaw and her throat, all the while he tasted her tears as they continued to cascade down her face. _"I won't do this to you again...". _

Buffy sat up. She caught the sob in her throat, ready to heave. Tears stung her eyes, his touch lingered on her face. But she was alone. The ground was flat and unremarkable. And she was in the middle of nowhere. Angelus nowhere to be seen or heard of. Had that entire encounter been an imagined thing? Brought on by what she thought might be her last moments alive. She brushed at the tears roughly, somehow knowing that that was not the real explanation. She was ready to lie back down again, hug her knees to her chest and weep freely. Had there ever been a slayer to screw up as badly as she had? Had there ever been a slayer who so readily sacrificed the world for her lover? _Had there ever been a slayer who was sucked into hell?_

* * *

Angelus brushed his knuckles against his coat as he followed the rocky pathway. He assumed it was a pathway. He hadnt the faintest inclination as to where he was going. Hell was proving to be exceedingly disappointing. Buffy had disappeared, which was both amusing and annoying. He wanted to watch her suffer at the very least. As he strolled along something crunched loudly beneath his shoes, but when he looked down there was nothing there. He was surprised at the sight that greeted him when he looked up again, or rather the smell that he was met with. That intoxicating, debilitating scent. Blood. Buffy's blood. Slayer's blood. As he sidled up to her body, for that's all that was left - He felt his face contort and twist.

_"Bleeding the slayer dry. And dropping her at my feet. Is this supposed to be my eternal punishment or a spa treatment?"_ He bent down and turned her over. She was covered in cuts, some pieces of glass were still stuck into her flesh. He thought of the phantom glass he had stepped on.

_"That'll do it,"_ He concluded mockingly_. "Kind of a shame though, nobody around to see it. Drain the last dregs of life out of her and all. Where's the artistry? Where is the passion?" _His finger came down, raking a ragged path through her blood. If he had a straw he would go to town but in light of the circumstances...he brought his finger to his lips and tasted. It wasn't exactly the breathtaking symphony he expected. Instead the cavern shook around him and suddenly he was back there again. Having a soul stuffed in where it didn't belong. Memories, sweet, disgusting conscience invaded his mind and he roared.

* * *

Buffy found herself encircled by mirrors. They weren't even mirrors really, it seemed a collection of jagged pieces of glass enclosed her. But when she approached them, she could not see her reflection - instead she saw the space behind her, and more glass fragments. Her hand came up to touch the empty glass, just as her fingertips came to brush the surface, she flinched away. A reflection was slowly appearing, but it was not her own.  
_"Angel?"_ She whispered. She looked all around her but she was alone. He smiled at her, his own hand reaching for hers. Then he began to laugh. His laughter reverberating the cavern. It came out loud and cruel.

_"Do you still think you made the right choice?"_ He continued to laugh. Buffy tried to push out of the circle, but the glass only grew taller and stronger around her. She beat it with her fists and they came back bloody and torn. Then, across the circle the glass began to shatter and burst, spraying shards everywhere, and in sickening succession, each mirror in turn began following suit, showering her with fragments, cutting and tearing at her. She cried out, she screamed, but the barrage continued. All the while, his laughter filled the air. She collapsed before the last mirror, wiping desperately at the blood that was blinding her. She didn't hear it explode, but she felt it. Her head was suddenly too heavy to bear and she felt the ground rise up to meet her. She could feel the life drain from her, with agony it flowed from her and into the god forsaken earth. And her love laughed the entire time.

* * *

The world shifted suddenly, though the terrain looked much the same. Dirt tracks, uneven rocky caverns and a perpetual night sky that offered little light. Buffy was walking towards a doubled over Angelus. His hands were clutching his head, he appeared to be in agony. The sight was surprisingly easy to watch. She took a moment to pat down her body, there wasn't a single stinging scratch to be found.

_"What happened to you?" _Buffy asked half-heartedly.

His head seemed to shoot up in surprise at her voice, as though she had startled him. Then he appeared to compose himself and stand up, though he did so cautiously.  
_"You did,"_ he bit off, his voice hoarse.  
_"Yeah well, flying glass spears happened to me. So I win." _


End file.
